I write down what people are saying, either typing or in a notebook. These aren’t actual notes that can be used later. It’s literally “hear word, write down word”. I find it helps me to stay concentrated on what is happening. Or at least it prevents me from engaging in other activity.

Bring a quiet fidget toy.

If it is a Zoom meeting, than I just allow myself to run around the room, listening to the meeting on the background.

Otherwise, if it is an in-person meeting, I do lots of things

• watch around, try to make notes of important things
• practice active listening, trying to validate my understanding by parahprasing statements I heard as questions to validate correctness of my understanding. Even if I can’t ask them — I write them down, this also forces the muscle memory to make me recall more
• if it is a presentation, I sometimes run further ahead, riding the content like waves — so when presenter gets to some point,

The most important thing, though, always is to accept the fact that you can miss some parts. Neurotypicals miss bits and pieces of information too — they just don’t think it is a bad thing, so it is fine if you miss something, or hear something incorrectly. It is completely fine to ask to repeat something, or to get some information later by asking your colleagues.

Take your meds if you have them. And like others said, write yourself a protocol. I personally hate doing that but it’s the only way I can stay focused in a meeting. In addition to that, everything I don’t immediately write down, I’ll forget in the next few minutes. Everyone’s always amazed by how well I can recall details of past meetings, when it’s actually the opposite lol

Comp Sci. Slow peers. Droning profs. All day. It could have been hell.

4 colours of easy writing pens and a cover story about taking notes for someone else and there I was, taking notes in 4 colours for easy review and just enough arbitrary framework to keep me distracted.

A week-long meeting? That’s a fresh new hell I have thankfully managed to dodge at this point.

A… week long meeting? Surely there’s a more productive use of everyone’s time.

Bone conduction headphones, music of your choice. Only you can hear the music, and you can still hear everyone else around you as your ears aren’t covered.

Take hand-written notes

I’m a conlanger, so I would just handwrite my notes in my own language and script, and be coining new words as needed. And doodling. Got me through lots of meetings and trainings.

Do what ADHD people do best. Zone out, and if your name is dropped, zoom backwards what was said and try to catch up before zoning out again.

I had one of those. They handed out Starbursts, and I made paper cranes out of the wrappers. Some of the time I doodled. I think most people nowadays understand that doodling doesn’t mean you’re not paying attention.

In hindsight maybe the paper cranes gave me away a little. But then when it came time to get into the actual meat of the meeting, I gave some really valuable insights and solved a problem that no one else could figure out. As long as you’re demonstrating your value, people will be more generous interpreting your behavior.

But every work environment is different. I had a pretty good handle on mine and had already built up a good reputation.

I was in a month-long work orientation completely over Zoom/Teams in 2022. Having 2 monitors and using picture-in-picture mode really helped me avoid losing track of the meeting while multitasking. Play music in the background if you find that helpful.

If this is an in-person meeting, push for more frequent breaks if the host is receptive to that and bring your fidget toys and doodling supplies. Chewing gum also helps me not be too restless, but obviously be respectful and don’t chew obnoxiously.

I worked for a company that had Play-Doh, pipe cleaners, scratch pads, and colored pencils for meetings like this. Could you bring things like that?

I fidgeted and made all sorts of stupid things with it, but it worked.